Evaluation of the effect of localized skin cooling on nasal airway volume by acoustic rhinometry

Ten healthy subjects (four men and six women) were subjected to localized skin cooling by submersion for 5 min of both feet and, in another experiment, one hand and forearm into ice-cold water. Repeated measurements of nasal cavity volumes by a new method, acoustic rhinometry, showed characteristic patterns ranging from marked increases in volumes lasting the entire exposure period to transient monophasic or biphasic responses to no change at all. The pattern in individual subjects was reproducible with the two methods of cooling, and it could be characterized by five types when related to baseline measurements during the preexposure period. Because of large minute-to-minute variations, probably determined by local differences and fluctuations in blood flow in tissues through the nose, evaluation of induced changes in the nasal cavity volume cannot be based on single measurements as has frequently been done in the past by using rhinomanometry as the experimental method. The mechanisms behind the characteristic patterns in immediate human nasal response to local skin cooling challenge remains to be explored.